This morning, I got up early and made it my mission to head to the grocery store. Before I left, I checked out the specials at Fresh & Easy and Albertsons and decided to go with the latter since I was familiar with the store layout. Tej wanted to go, but I left him behind.

We usually go grocery shopping together; there’s been maybe only 2 times since we’ve been living together, and even before then, where we’ve went to the store alone, but I made it my mission to do it independently. There were a few reasons I turned him down, even though he asked me several times to wait to go until after he got out the shower.

  • No one to slow you down or speed you up: I don’t know about you, but I hate being rushed and I hate when people slow me down. I like to shop at my own pace. Sometimes I go in knowing exactly what I want from a store. Other times, like today, I have an idea, but also want to get a few more things. I got to browse around and really consider and reconsider some of the things I picked up.
  • No one telling you what you can and can’t pick up: Shopping with Tej is like a 7 year old shopping with their mother, only a bit more frustrating. He always picks up what he wants, but if I want something, he shuts it down. If I choose something, most of the time he’ll say “we have that” when I know for sure we don’t. I told him that today before leaving. What’s funny is, even when I got back, he put the things away and said “we still have some of these things in the apartment.” I had to assure him all of our food is here in our condo, so no, we don’t already have it.
  • Avoiding shopping with someone who’s hungry: I know better than to shop when I’m hungry. Your stomach tends to take over your mind. One of the things Tej said when I got back was “I wanted to go grocery shopping because I was hungry.” Are you serious dear? That’s a grocery shopping no-no. I’m glad I left him at home after that haha.
  • The more budget conscious person should go shopping: Today made me realize something. When grocery shopping is up to Tej, we go over budget. Today, I was far below what I anticipated, and that was without coupons. I got more than enough food for great prices.
  • We have actual food to cook: Another thing I realized was that we actually have food to cook for lunch and dinner (we’re not big on breakfast, unfortunately). When me and him go shopping, we cook that night, and maybe a few other nights, but end up eating out the rest of the time because we don’t have anything meal worthy, just snacks. Leave it up to a bachelor, eh?

So although his feelings may have been hurt, I don’t regret my decision of grocery shopping alone. I picked up things I wanted, something he wanted, and things we needed for meals and to help our budget. Not only that, I chose food that was more on the healthy side. I avoided the chips aisle, almost avoided the cookie aisle (his Chips Ahoy cookies are $3.59 and he usually gets 2 packs; I got him 1; he’ll have to deal with that), and didn’t pick up any sodas.

Do you shop with your spouse? Do you think it’s easier or harder shopping with someone else?

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